Shadowplay


Telematic Performance






"SHADOWPLAY" is a global telematic performance connecting Amsterdam and Tokyo. Two performers dance with each other's shadow from the other side of the globe in this contemporary exploration of identity and relationships. The performance will be held simultaneously in Amsterdam and Tokyo. Amanantina Jean (Amsterdam) and Daisuke Omiya (Tokyo) will dance live with each other through their shadows.

The performance is centered around the phenomenology of (mixed) identity, relationships, and the influence that digital communication has on them. Shadow is used a way to express the intangibility and transformation of both one's identity as well as how someone experiences the other, when for a long period of time digital communication is the only way of social interaction. The artist Vincent Ruijters uses his personal history as his main source of inspiration. Ruijters, who has lived in Japan for over 8 years, has Chinese-Indonesian and Dutch roots. These facets of identity—that he observes as carriers of shared cultural heritage—influence all layers of the performance. The use of shadows is also inspired by the Indonesian shadow puppetry Wayang Kulit (which literally means "shadow" or "imagination").

Artist: Vincent Ruijters
Performers: Daisuke Omiya & Amantina Jean
Music: John van Beek
Supported by: International Heritage Cooperation, DutchCulture, Arts Council Tokyo (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture), The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Mondriaan Fund

Photo: Yulia Skogoreva & Hugo Caspers
Video: Hirofumi Seto

© 2023 Vincent Ruijters All Rights Reserved.  
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